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Court officials meet at conference in California

For the Current-Argus

Posted:
07/11/2014 08:12:26 AM MDT

Magistrate Judge Dick Van Dyk and DWI/Drug Court coordinator Sonja Bedinger recently returned from Anaheim, Calif., where they attended the 20th conference of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.

The purpose of the Drug Court group is to champion proven strategies in the judicial system that empower drug- and alcohol-using offenders to change their lives.

The annual training conference included an unprecedented number of legal sessions: immigration and due process; alcohol monitoring of offenders; impaired driving risks/what practitioners need to know; treatment mapping to maximize community resources and reduce the gaps in services for offenders; getting the right people into the right program; the brain on drugs; and complex trauma of the brain, to name a few.

The Carlsbad duo also attended a portion of the Veterans Court sessions. Carlsbad started a veterans court here a few months ago, which was the second veterans court in the state on the magistrate level.

The court currently has limited jurisdiction, and is working to have a full-time veterans court in Carlsbad.